Viewfinders are commonly known in the field of photography which utilize a field of view to provide an image or frame-defining format which is representative of the dimensional characteristics of the image to be captured by the user.
In the advent of providing different sized formats to define the size of a particular image, it is preferred in some instances to have a viewfinder in which the field of view can be selectively masked to define more than one format.
In such a viewfinder, the field of view is the largest in its unmasked state, preferably defining a wide-image (or HDTV, known as high-definition television) format having an aspect ratio of about 1.83.
Though well suited for some photographic situations, there are other situations in which a different aspect ratio suits the composition of the image to be taken. A second format, which is most well known is the so-called normal format, having the same height as the first unmasked format and a correspondingly shorter length, providing an aspect ratio of approximately 1.50.
A third photographic format, known as the panoramic format includes the same length as the HDTV format, but less height, thereby defining an aspect ratio of approximately 2.83. This particular format is more well suited than the normal format for some outdoor scenes. It is useful to provide a viewfinder assembly which can selectively define a field of view for a particular format.
A problem in defining a variable format viewfinder is that there are a number of spacing problems which make positioning of multiple masking blades difficult without enlarging the size of the camera. The latter is an undesirable result, in that cameras having compact designs are greatly preferred, and possess a number of other inherent advantages.
It is desired, therefore, to provide a viewfinder having a field of view which can easily be masked in order to indicate a plurality of different format positions in a simple and yet compact manner.